Chuck vs The New Teacher
by Annie4theWin
Summary: AU- Chuck and the others are teachers at West Burbank High School. A couple new staff members are needed. Everything changes.
1. Chapter 1

West Burbank High School isn't known for their athletics, but they excel in Mu Alpha Theta competitions and state testing scores. Their Arts Department is strong as well as the Computer Science Department. But, it is a new year and the principal was to announce the new additions to the staff. Chuck Bartowski, head of the Computer Science Department, sits next to Morgan Grimes, Literature in Media and Business Education teacher, in the cafeteria as they wait for Principal Tucker's announcements.

"Chuck, hottie coming in at your 10 o'clock," Morgan whispers with wide eyes.

Chuck tries to discreetly turn to his left, pretending to check the clock on the cafeteria wall. His gaze falls upon the beautiful blonde searching for a seat. When he feels that he's been staring for too long, he rotates back to Morgan.

"Wow," is all that Chuck can say.

Morgan nods his head enthusiastically. "Yeah, dude. I'm praying she's in my department."

Chuck eyes the woman for a second. "Nah, she doesn't look boring enough to be Business Education. No offense."

Morgan narrows his eyes at him, "Thanks. Well, she's obviously not teaching nerdy computer stuff so keep dreaming." When Morgan looks to Chuck he finds that he is beginning to stand up. "What're you doing?"

"She's sitting all by herself and no one has asked her to sit with them. I feel bad, so I'm going to invite her to sit with us," Chuck explains as he stands up to full height.

"Chuck, you know I'm your best friend, but you must be going crazy if you think a girl that hot will agree to sit with you, the lanky nerd, and me, the dark haired leprechaun."

Chuck shrugs, "Worth a try." He leaves Morgan sitting at the table and tries to casually walk over to the blonde, his palms sweating and his fingers twitching. When he stops in front of her table she doesn't look up from her phone. "Hi," he says a little too excitedly.

She glances up from her device, "Hi." She eyes him, taking in his unkept curls, button up with a cheap tie, and high top Converse.

He fidgets with his tie for a second before putting out his hand. "I'm Chuck."

"Wow, I didn't think people still named their kids Chuck."

"My parents were sadists," he counters with a smirk. Chuck puts his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels. "So," he gestures to her.

"Sarah."

He nods. "So, Sarah, I noticed that it looked a little lonely over here and I was wondering if you'd like to sit with my buddy Morgan and me," he asks and points to Morgan who waves from his seat, intently watching the interaction.

"Morgan?"

"Yeah, carnival freaks found him in a dumpster, but they raised him as one of their own." He smiles when this makes Sarah laugh. She frowns down at her phone. "Phone troubles?"

She sighs, putting down her phone. "Yes, it keeps randomly shutting down."

"Mind if I take a look?" She shakes her head and hands it to him. "Ah, yes, this model has a little screw in the back that just needs to be tightened," he says as examines the cellphone. Chuck digs out his Swiss Army knife and quickly tightens the screw before handing it back to her. "Good as new. Well, not really. I recommend maybe getting an upgrade."

Sarah smiles, "Thanks, Chuck. And I'll take you up on that offer. Lead the way."

Chuck tries to contain his grin as she stands and follows him back to his table. He sits with Morgan to his right and Sarah to his left. "Morgan, this is Sarah."

Morgan eagerly reaches across Chuck to shake Sarah's hand. "Nice to meet you, Sarah."

Just as Morgan sits back in his seat, Principal Tucker walks up on stage. "Good morning faculty and staff of West Burbank High! Thank you all for coming. We have a few things to discuss. First and foremost we need to talk about our new team members. If it's your first year here, please stand up!"

Sarah looks to Chuck and he gives her a thumbs up. She stands and looks around at the other new teachers.

"Now we're going to go around and introduce yourselves and say one thing you like to do," he laughs, "I'm just messing with you guys. Welcome, we are very glad to have you all join us and look forward to a great year."

Principal Tucker drones on about updated policies and future events. Chuck steals glances at Sarah as she listens to the speech. Still looking forward, Chuck leans close to Sarah, "What classes are you teaching?"

She turns to look at him and their faces are so close that he gets to see the different shades of blue swimming in her eyes before he leans an appropriate distance away.

"Psychology and Forensic Science," she says as her eyes do a quick flicker to his lips and back to his eyes, but not without him noticing.

"Fun classes," he breathes out as his focus his narrowed on just Sarah.

"Yeah," Sarah whispers.

The spell is broken when Morgan nudges Chuck.

"Dude, did you just hear what Big Mike said?" He asks with glee.

He glances at Sarah and back to Morgan, "Uh, no. Why? What'd he say?"

"There was some huge anonymous donation given to the school so now not only do we get slight raises but we get a better budget for Department needs and dances!" Morgan presses his hands together in front of his lips as if he was praying. "This is gonna be a great year."

"Yeah it is," Chuck says as he thinks about a year close to Sarah.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or commented! So, this story takes place in September of this year, but the characters are as they were in the first season, if that makes sense. There are no real spoilers that I plan to add unless you haven't seen the first season maybe. I can't promise that my updates will be regular at all.**

 **I don't own Chuck.**

 **P.S. If you like the show Community you should click on my profile and read my stories for that! Thank you for reading!**

"Time for the new teacher tour! Please report to the front office area in five minutes. See you all soon," Principal Tucker says and walks off stage. He makes his way over to Chuck and Morgan.

"Chuck, Morgan, how are you guys?" He asks as he embraces both of them.

"We're great! Look what we picked up on the way here." Chuck grabs a bag off the table and presents a foot long Subway sandwich.

"You didn't," he gasps as Chuck hands it to him. "Sweet teriyaki chicken. Thank you, boys."

"No problem, Big Mike."

"And who's your new friend?" He asks looking to Sarah.

"Oh, yes, Sarah." He gestures for her to come over to them.

"Hi, Principal Tucker, I'm Sarah Walker. Nice to see you," Sarah greets as she shakes his hand.

"Ah, Sarah Walker, I remember you."

"I hope that's a good thing," she smiles and looks at Chuck who's looking right at her, wearing a big smile on his face.

"Of course. Well, I have to go, but I hope you enjoy the tour. You have two great tour guides here." He leaves, sniffing his sandwich.

"Have you gotten a room yet?" Morgan asks.

"Actually, yes I did." She pulls out a piece of paper from her purse. "Room 301."

"No way! That's next to Chuck's classroom. I'm right across the hall."

"Wow, what a coincidence!" Chuck says.

"Well, I'm glad I met you guys before the school year starts." Sarah checks her watch. "Oh aren't we supposed to be doing that tour?"

Chuck shrugs, "We are the leaders so we get to decide. But, yeah, I decide that we should start right about now." Meeting the group, they begin their tour.

"What're you doing back here?" Sarah asks when Chuck slows to walk with her near the back of the group.

"Morgan always takes the first half of the tour and then I finish it off. Gotta finish it off with a flourish."

"A flourish?"

"Yeah, meaning we end the tour back in the cafeteria where there is food," Chuck says rubbing his hands together.

Sarah laughs. "Sounds like the perfect ending."

They walk around the school, visiting teacher lounges and new classrooms. Chuck takes over and gives some of the history of the school, making jokes along the way. He watches as Morgan slides back to walk with Sarah, thinking about the terribly embarrassing things he could be telling her. Their gazes meet as she laughs at something Morgan says, her looking quickly away. Chuck rushes through the rest of the tour, so they make it back before lunch is done.

"I'm going to grab some punch, you guys go find a spot to sit," Morgan says before speeding off to beat the line.

"You're quite the tour guide," Sarah says as they sit down.

"The best," Chuck jokes. Silence falls over them and Chuck awkwardly twiddles his thumbs. "Um, so are you new to the area?"

Sarah nods, "Yeah, I just moved here from D.C. about two weeks ago."

"Oh, wow. That must've been a cool place to live." Chuck leans on his palm, interested in what she has to say.

"It was nice, but I needed a change of environment," she says hoping he takes it as needing a change in weather.

"Winter pretty bad there?"

Sarah sighs, "Yup. It was too cold for me and I wanted to move, so I figured California would do since can't afford Hawaii."

"Where're you from originally?" He asks innocently, but sees Sarah tense up at the question.

Just as Sarah opens her mouth to speak Morgan comes back with the drinks. "Thanks, Morgan." She's grateful for the interruption.

Chuck eyes her over the rim of his cup.

"What we're you guys talking about?" Morgan inquires.

"We we're talking about how much better my portion of the tour was than yours." Chuck smirks and sips on his fruit punch.

"Oh, not cool man. I got you a drink," Morgan says with a frown and then goes back to his usual happy composure. "Did you see the new Call of Duty zombies gameplay? I think I might buy it just for that!"

Sarah zones out as they talk about video games, instead focusing on her phone. She scrolls through Instagram, pausing only for a second of a picture of Bryce with a bunch of girls at a club. Frowning, she closes her phone and drops it on the table. Morgan and Chuck look at her.

"What's the frown for?" Chuck looks from her to her phone to Morgan with a raised eyebrow.

She looks between the two men. "Um, just frustrated about how I know nothing about what you're talking about," Sarah tries to cover up. Morgan accepts her answer and begins explaining the gaming stuff in simpleton terms, but Chuck continues to look at her. She avoids his gaze, choosing to focus on Morgan.

"Come get your food!" Someone announces and Morgan hurriedly jumps up.

"Is he always like that?" Sarah asks Chuck.

"Very enthusiastic about food and everything in general? Yes, he is," Chuck confirms.

After getting their food, they eat quietly except the occasional interaction between Morgan and Chuck. As Sarah finishes, so does Chuck and he takes her plate.

"Are you done?"

Sarah nods, "Yes, but you don't have to take my plate."

Chuck waves it off as he takes both of their plates to the trash. He's stopped by a woman.

"Oh, hey, Hannah!" Chuck greets happily before wrapping her in a hug.

"It's great to see you, Chuck."

"Yeah, it is. How've you been?"

"Oh, you mean since you told me you weren't ready for a relationship?" Chuck looks like a deer in headlights. "I'm joking! Like I told you, I completely understand. But I hoped we would stay in better contact."

Chuck buries his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. It was a crazy summer. I had to get part time job back at the Buy More," he says as he glances back to the table seeing Sarah watching him under her lashes. He places his hand on Hannah's forearm, "Listen, I'm really sorry about how I left things and I do want to be friends. How about we get drinks tonight?"

"Did someone say something about getting drinks?"

Chuck drops his hand and turns to find Sarah holding two empty cups and wearing a smirk on her face.

She had to hold in a laugh at Chuck's expression, "Sorry, I was just on my way to get some refills at Morgan's insistence and happened to overhear talk of going out to get drinks."

Hannah eyes Sarah before offering her hand. "Hi, I'm Hannah and you are?"

"Sarah," she answers, taking the brunettes hand.

Chuck looks nervously between them. They stand for a few moments in awkward silence.

"Well, I better get these refills before Morgan throws a fit," Sarah holds up the cups and turns on her heels and walks to the punch bowl.

Chuck smiles tight lipped down at Hannah. "So, it looks like it will be you, Sarah, Morgan, and me."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So, I don't know why I was having such trouble writing this, but I'm also in the middle of finals so it could be that. I just wanted to get something up so this is it (I didn't read over it so please excuse errors). I just needed to get this out of the way to get on with the story and this is how it happened and we're just going to have to live with it. Anyway thanks for reading, favoriting, following, and commenting!**

Chuck walks back to Morgan and Sarah, sitting down with an awkward smile. "So, tonight should be fun."

"What're we doing tonight?" Morgan asks after downing the juice in one gulp.

"We're going for drinks with Sarah and Hannah," Chuck raises his eyebrows.

Morgans eyes widen in fear, "What? Hannah as in Hannah teacher Hannah?"

"Yup," Chuck says with a pop of his lips.

"What's with this Hannah?" Sarah asks, feigning disinterest as she picks at a nail. When she looks up, she sees Chuck and Morgan communicating silently.

"Just a friend," Morgan announces.

Chuck frowns at him. "There was once a mutual fondness, but before summer started I let her know it wasn't mutual anymore..."

Sarah nods slowly, "Oh, I see."

Chuck watches her for a reaction, but she schools her expression to show nothing. He narrows his eyes at her for a moment before letting it go. "I guess I'll have to text you the time and place."

"Oh, yeah. Here." Sarah hands over her phone with the contacts open. After he inputs his information, she texts him.

Big Mike shows up back on stage and closes up the meeting. "Have a good afternoon. I'll see you all on September 6th!"

Later that afternoon, Sarah finally receives a text from Chuck.

"Are you up for drinks and dancing?"

"Always," Sarah texts back.

"Can I pick you up at seven?"

"Yup," she confirms.

"See you then!"

Sarah takes a quick shower, then does her hair and makeup, and finally it was time to decide what to wear. Flipping through her large wardrobe, she stops at a simple purple dress. Choosing to not to wear a nicer, showy dress, she pulls the purple dress on. She touches up her hair, adding in a few curls just as her phone rings.

She answers without checking the caller ID, "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Chuck."

"Oh, hi. What's up?" Sarah asks with the phone pressed between her ear and shoulder.

"Just letting you know that I'll head over in like twenty if that's alright?"

"I mean I'm ready now. We can get an appetizer to snack on if you just come over now. I'm starving," she suggests as she does the final touches on her makeup, smiling at her reflection.

Chuck sounds startled by her request, "Oh, uh, yeah. I'll head to your apartment now. See you in ten."

"See ya."

After placing the phone down, she throws on a pair of tall heels and grabs her purse. She sits in the lobby of her apartment building, her legs crossed as she absentmindedly twirls a strand of hair on her finger, thinking. Sarah hadn't really laughed in a while and Chuck makes her laugh a lot, something she looks forward to enjoying more of. The thought of Chuck makes her smile. Her phone buzzing snaps her out of her haze. She sees the text from Chuck that he's there and makes her way to his Yaris. Sarah catches Chuck watching her and she adds an extra sway to her walk.

Chucks eyes glide up Sarah's figure, meeting her gaze with a blush. He clears his throats as he unlocks the door. "Hi," he says with a little wave.

Sarah laughs, "Hi, Chuck." She checks her hair in the mirror and Chuck watches her. She glances at him, "Ready to go?"

Chuck nods both to signal he was ready and to clear his head. "You look very beautiful."

"Thank you. You clean up nice, too," Sarah compliments.

With a smile, Chuck speeds off. "Have you been to any cool places out here yet?"

"I went to a club close by with my friend who lives in San Diego when she was up here to help me move."

"Oh, that's nice. I'm not huge on the dancing, but I like the music and atmosphere of the place we're going. I'm too lanky to dance," Chuck jokes.

Sarah shrugs, "I love how freeing it is. Just getting to enjoy the music and releasing stress. When I lived with my friend we used to go dancing a lot. I took a couple of dance classes."

"Sounds like some fun times."

"Yeah, college was quite the time and I guess a while after that," Sarah says with an almost dreamy look.

"My college days usually consisted of doing homework, studying, playing video games, or trying to make a video game. My friends and I were real cool," Chuck laughs at himself. "I'm not much better now, though. I teach kids how to follow in my footsteps of becoming nerds."

"The world needs more people like you, so you're doing a good thing."

They smile at each other and fall into a comfortable silence until they arrive at the club.

Chuck holds the door for Sarah, unconsciously placing his hand at the small of her back as he follows behind her. He leads her to the bar, finding four seats open near the end of the bar. The bartender immediately comes to take their orders.

"This one is on me," the bartender puts down Sarah's martini with a wink. Sarah smiles and accepts the drink, but drops her smile as she turns to Chuck.

He awkwardly plays with the stem of his glass. "Do you wanna order some nachos?"

Sarah nods and calls the bartender over to get the order in quickly. She finishes her drink before the nachos come out as Chuck slowly sips at his. As soon as the nachos are set down he digs into them, fitting every ingredient onto a single chip, while Sarah carefully picks off the olives on her chips.

"Not a fan of olives?" Chuck asks around a mouthful.

"No, not really," Sarah says as she nibbles on a cheese and meat covered chip.

"Maybe we should leave some for Morgan and Hannah." She towels off her hand and dabs her lips. Noticing the dryness, she reapplies her lipgloss. Chuck's eyes linger on her lips before meeting her eyes.

"Oh, uh, yeah," he agrees and cleans himself up.

"Oh, you missed a spot." Chuck watches slack jawed as Sarah reaches for him, using her thumb to wipe off a smear of cheese from his bottom lip and brings it back to lips, licking it up. Chuck almost moans at the gesture and he realizes how close they are. He moves slightly closer, looking into Sarah's darkened eyes. A quiet gasp escapes him as her hand rests on his thigh.

"Chuck?"

Chuck almost jumps out of his seat.

"Hi, Hannah!" Chuck announces and leans back from Sarah, who is driving him crazy with her hand still on his knee. Sarah just sips on her drink.

"I see you guys already started without me," Hannah gestures to the nachos.

"Sorry, I was hungry," Sarah states.

Chuck's eyes dart between the two that seem to be having a staring contest. He lets go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding when Hannah moves to take the seat to his left and Sarah removes her hand once Hannah sits. Deciding to ignore what just happened he orders a Johnnie Walker Black on ice and another martini for Sarah.

"Chuck, Sarah!"

They both turn to see Morgan waltzing in. Chuck sighs in relief, thankful that his best friend finally showed up.

"Aw, dude! You already ate like all the beef and what's with all these extra olives?" Morgan sits next to Hannah and pulls the whole plate of nachos in front of him.

Chuck chugs the rest of his whisky. As he flags down the bartender he asks, "Hannah, do you want a drink?"

"I'll just have a beer," she answers.

The four of them sit quietly at the bar, Morgan devouring the nachos as the other three use their phone as a distraction. Chuck feeling extremely uncomfortable in between Sarah and Hannah.

"So, how was-"

"Remember when-"

Chuck and Hannah start at that same time.

"Oh, sorry. Go ahead," Chuck concedes.

"I was just gonna say that this reminds me of that time after we had to fix the security system at that museum and we came here for drinks," Hannah says with a smirk, her eyes flicking past Chuck's to meet Sarah's.

Chuck chokes on his drink as he laughs. "That was a fun time! Crazy night." Chuck looks at Sarah, "I mean, the security install/ checkup was crazy. Weird stuff happened."

Hannah's finger draws imaginary lines on Chuck's forearm. "Yeah, it did."

"Hey oh!" Chuck plops his arm in his lap and looks to Morgan, desperate for help.

"Oh! Uh, how about we go dance?!" Morgan suggests.

"That's a great idea, Morgan. How about it, Chuck?" Sarah squeezes Chuck's knee again, "I could teach you how to dance." She raises her eyebrow, "Or I'll just show you."

Chuck nods quick, "Yeah, yeah. Dancing sounds good."

Hannah frowns at the interaction. "Yeah, c'mon Chuck."

Sarah puts cash on the bar and then drops off her chair. "Lets go," she holds out her hand for Chuck and he takes it.

Morgan follows closely behind them, the. pushes his way in the middle.

Hannah walks beside Chuck, their arms touching.

Before Hannah has the chance, Sarah squeezes her way back to Chuck and grabs his hand, leading him to the heart of the dance floor. His whole body tenses as he become aware of his awkward frame.

With Sarah's hands around his neck and her body flush against him, his thinking halts. She teases the curls at the nape of his neck, loving the feeling. Chuck begins to sway to the music with Sarah, his hands finding her hips. His breathing shortens as their gazes lock. Even with her heels on, Chuck still towers over her and she loves it. Sarah pulls him down to whisper in his ear, "The song changed," noting that the new beat is much faster. Chuck hides his frowns when Sarah releases her grip from around his neck, but quickly turns into a grin.

Chuck's hands sit hesitantly on her hips, his touch soft. Sarah turns around, sliding down his body before coming back up slowly, her hand tangling in his hair as she feels his hot breath on her cheek. Chuck's hands slide lightly along her hips and waist. When Sarah turns back to him, their eyes meet and Chuck is focused solely on her. Sarah loses herself in the music. Her body moving to the beat.

Chuck has to remind himself not to gape at the beauty before him dancing with him. Sarah moves fluidly, smooth and deliberate, her training kicking in.

His thinking is interrupted when a finger taps his shoulder. "Heyyyyy, buddy. What's up? I'm kinda busy here."

"Oh, yeah, every guy in here can see that. Sorry. But, I thought you'd like to know that Hannah just stormed out," Morgan explains as he points behind him at Hannah's fading figure.

Chuck frowns, "Oh, weird."

"Not really, dude. Hannah was obviously into you and you ignored her, but I understand why. I kinda tried hitting on her and I guess that put her over the edge," he says rubbing his neck awkwardly.

Chuck pats Morgan's shoulder, "It's okay, there're plenty of women here that would be luck to accompany you on the dance floor."

Morgan nods, "You're right!" He shoots off into the crowd, attempting to dance with some of the girls.

"Sorry about that," Chuck says as he turns around. He finds Sarah dancing happily with a couple of girls. When she sees him, she gestured for him to join her. Chuck awkwardly fit himself in the bunch, pushed up against Sarah.

Her arms loop back around his neck as she brings his ear down to her lips. "Chuck, do you wanna get out of here?"

Chuck's eyes grow comically large as he leans back to examine Sarah's face. "Really?"

Sarah laughs and nods, "Yeah." She leads him out of the crowd.

"Wait, hold on. We work together now. It doesn't seem ethical, " Chuck says weakly as he stops her near the door.

Sarah places a hand on his chest, "We don't officially work together until September 6th, I see this as a win-win situation where we both get to enjoy ourselves and not break any types of rules there may be."

Chuck nods enthusiastically, "You make a very convincing case, Ms. Walker."

"Well, we better get to your place so I can 'debrief' you," Sarah says with a smirk.

"Ha, that was so cheesy," Chuck laughs. At her raised eyebrow, he backtracks, "That's not a bad thing at all in my book. I love to make cheesy jokes all the time."

Sarah just laughs and tugs him out of the club, Chuck following clumsily behind.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you for reading, commenting, favoriting, and following. Sorry for a late update, but I honestly got distracted by some great stories (very long) stories on here that I hadn't discovered and super glad that I did, I was also distracted by video games and no school:) Btw** **I don't own Chuck or any of the characters.**

Chuck yawns and stretches as he awakens, the sun streaming in through his blinds. He reaches his arm to where Sarah was, but finds only the sheets, still warm from her. With a frown, Chuck sits up only to find Sarah pulling on one of his t-shirts.

"Oh, good morning," Chuck says after clearing his throat.

Sarah smiles, "Good morning." She leans down to place a light kiss on his lips before heading for the door, "Which way is the bathroom?"

"It's just like right across the hall, you'll see it."

Sarah quietly leaves and Chuck doesn't move until he hears the bathroom door close

Chuck lets out a sigh, a smile on his face. He stands up, his muscles aching a bit, and scrubs his hands over his face. Chuck perks up when he hears voices from the hallway. He pulls the door one with a grin, one that fades.

"Uh, hi, Ellie! I thought you and Awesome were working one of those terrible overnight shifts," he says, his voice higher than normal. Chuck glances at Sarah who awkwardly tugs down Chuck's Stanford t-shirt in an attempt to cover herself.

Ellie looks at Chuck, her arms folded. "Devon, had to stay, but someone volunteered to cover for me. So here I am!" She puts up her hands and lets them fall, then stares at Chuck, waiting.

"Oh, right, duh. Ellie, this is Sarah. She's going to be teaching at the high school with me."

Sarah offers her hand, and Ellie shakes it with both of hers. "It's so nice to meet another friend of Chuck's that isn't Morgan."

"Oh, you know that Ellie is my sister, right?"

Sarah laughs, nodding. "Yes, she made sure to mention." She directs her attention back to Ellie, "I hope you don't mind, but I'd feel more comfortable having a conversation with a little more clothes on."

"Oh, yes. Of course, by all means," Ellie assures. As soon as Chuck's door closes, she narrows her eyes at her brother. "Explain."

Chuck places a hand on Ellie's should to guide her to the living room couch. "Okay, so I met Sarah yesterday," he pauses at the incredulous look he receives from his sister. "I know, I know. But, I mean...I can't explain it. You know this isn't like me and that I have really good judgment. I like her and it wasn't a rash decision, it was quick, but thought out. And I mean, have you seen her!" Chuck motions towards his bedroom, "A girl like that is not someone who usually even notices a guy like me."

"You mean a wonderful, kind, big-hearted, smart guy like you? Chuck I'm not judging you at all, God knows what I've done," Ellie laughs at Chuck's raised eyebrows. She lightly punches his arm, "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I'm proud of you for finally getting back out there and you look happy instead of moping around and eating cheese balls."

Just as Ellie finishes her statement, Sarah comes out from his bedroom.

Chuck's attention is on only her as he admires her in the dress that she wore the night before. "Hey!"

Sarah crosses her arms over her chest, "I'm gonna head out I have a couple errands to run and I don't want to intrude on your day."

"Oh," Chuck says with a frown. Ellie nudges him hard with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, you're not intruding at all and please stay for some coffee. I know we could all use some."

Sarah looks between the two siblings, one of which she was slightly intimidated by, with welcoming smiles and concedes, placing her purse on the dining table. "One cup of coffee won't hurt." Chuck's grin widens as he jumps up to begin making the coffee.

"How do you like yours, Sarah?" Chuck asks, pouring in the beans.

"Black is fine."

"Hmm didn't strike you as the type." He rambles on at Sarah's questioning look, "I mean not that there is a type of person who drinks their coffee black and if there happened to be a type of person who takes their coffee black I'm sure they're great people." Chuck focuses back on making the coffee to hide his embarrassment, "I'm just very passionate about coffee," he jokes.

"I see," Sarah says with a laugh. She leans against the counter next to Chuck, her eyes drifting to the living room where Ellie sits, watching them out of the corner of her eye. "So, your sister seems nice."

Chuck nods, "Yup, that she is. Although, I'm surprised she hasn't bombarded you with questions yet."

"She got in a couple before you came out into the hallway. Of course just the obvious ones like "Who are you?", "Why are you wearing Chuck's shirt", "Where are your pants?" Just the basics, ya know?"

Chuck's eyes big out at the second question. "She really asked you where your pants were?"

Sarah just shrugs, "It was a valid question. One I didn't have the chance to answer since you came out of your bedroom."

"It could've been more awkward, I suppose."

"How so?"

"At least we were both wearing clothes." Chuck smirks as he hands Sarah he mug.

"That's very true." She takes a sip and follows Chuck to the dining table.

Ellie joins them, sitting opposite the couple. "So, how'd last night go?"

Chuck chokes on his coffee with wide eyes.

"I mean your night out. You texted me you were just going with Morgan, but..." Ellie fades off mid sentence, looking to Chuck.

"Oh, um, yeah. So, Morgan and I were going to do the usual taco and margarita night after the orientation, but things happened." Chuck smiles at Sarah, the thing that happened. "Sarah just moved here a couple weeks ago and so she tagged along. We also didn't just do tacos, by the way. And I was forced to dance."

"Forced? Was it that bad?" Sarah teases.

"No! Not all, probably the only time I've enjoyed dancing in fact."

"Oh, is that so?"

"What about Morgan?" Ellie asks interrupting their side conversation.

"Wow, that's a first, you asking about Morgan," Chuck jokes.

"Well, usually he crashes on the couch after your outings, but I guess considering..." Ellie once again ends mid sentence looking at the two who blush at her comment.

"Oh, he was busy trying to flirt with Hannah," Chuck adds nonchalantly.

Ellie cocks an eyebrow, "Hannah was there?"

Chuck clears his throat, "Yeah, Hannah was there as a friend. It was a friendly gathering."

Ellie narrows her eyes at him, but drops it.

"Speaking of Morgan, I should give him a call to check up on him," he says springing up from his chair and to his room, as Sarah looks at him pleadingly to stay to avoid interrogation from his sister.

"Well, I guess that's the cue for me to leave. Thank you for the coffee." Sarah attempts to get up, but is stopped by Ellie.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are your intentions with Chuck?"

Sarah's jaw drops slightly and she avoids Ellie's gaze, looking to Chuck's door, hoping he'd come out right at that moment. "Um, well, you see..."

Her prays are answered when Chuck steps out holding his phone. "Morgan didn't answer, I hope he's okay." His eyes dart between the two women, feeling the tension. "Um?"

"I have to go!" Sarah gathers her stuff as she walks to Chuck. "Thanks for everything, Chuck." They hug goodbye, feeling Ellie's eyes on them. Sarah raises her lips to Chuck's ear, "Thank you for last night, it was fun. All of it."

Chuck reddens at her suggestive comment, "No problem, I had fun as well."

Sarah steps back, a hand on his chest. "Don't hesitate to call. We still have quite some time before the school year starts," she says with a tap before turning and heading out the door with a final wave to Ellie.

Chuck lets out a sigh, "I definitely won't hesitate."

"What was that?" Ellie asks.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Nothing at all."


	5. Chapter 5

_The Next Day-Afternoon_

"How soon do you think too soon is to call Sarah?" Chuck mumbles over a mouthful of cheese balls.

Morgan taps his mic, muting it, and answers without removing his eyes from the TV screen, "Well, in my bountiful experience, I'd say you don't want to call the day after. I've had some rough chats when I did that, mostly because they didn't know how I got their number in the first place, but that's neither here nor there. The point is, I would wait a few days."

Chuck nods slowly, "So, wait at least three days."

"What makes you say three days?"

"'Cause you said "a few" and a few to me is three. A couple is two and several is over six."

Morgan grunts, "That's odd. You need to act like you don't like her that much. I mean you don't want her to think you'll just fall to her feet at any given moment if she calls you."

Chuck shrugs and places more cheese balls in his mouth. "But, I mean I would."

"I know, we all would. But, you must stay strong and resist."

"Why would I resist if she was to call me?"

"Oh, yeah, never mind. You don't resist if she calls you, you just resist calling her within the first couple days."

Chuck drops his controller angrily as he dies again immediately after respawning. "Oh, now it's a couple days? Make up your mind, Morgan," he jokes.

"Just don't worry about it. I mean she said she wants to see you again, so obviously she likes you for some reason."

Chuck punches Morgan's arm. "Hey! I'm a decent catch and she seemed...satisfied," he scrunched his nose at his last word and so did Morgan. "Yeah, yeah. But, I mean she must have been, right? There's something she likes about me."

"I was just kidding, man. Don't doubt yourself. You're awesome," Morgan smiles before popping a cheese ball in his mouth.

"Thanks, buddy." Chuck smirks, "Just stay off my cheese balls and we'll be good."

### **3 Days Later**

Chuck pushes the shopping cart with one foot on the ground and one foot on the bottom of the cart, zooming through an aisle. Not paying attention, he runs into another cart at the end of the aisle.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry," Chuck quickly apologizes before looking at the victim.

"Chuck?"

His head snaps up to find a pair of sparkling blue eyes. "Sarah! Wow, what a funny place to run into each other."

Sarah laughs, "Literally."

They pull their carts down the empty aisle.

"So, I think my phone must be broken again," Sarah says.

"Oh, really? Geez, that thing is worse off than I thought. What's wrong with it this time?" Chuck asks, concerned.

Sarah smirks, "Well, I haven't received a call from you..."

Chuck laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. "That was a good one. You had me going there."

Sarah raises an eyebrow.

"Oh, yeah, duh. Trust me, I was definitely gonna call you, but I realize now that I got bad advice from a friend of how long to wait," Chuck explains nervously.

"I guess now that we ran into each other we could set up some plans?"

"Yeah, for sure! What would you say to a movie marathon, pizza, and beers?" Chuck asks to test the water.

Sarah smirks and chuckles. "Yeah, that actually sounds really great. Something nice and chill."

"Yes, very chill," Chuck mutters.

"Well, I'll see you later, Chuck." Sarah grins and pushes off her cart.

Chuck can faintly hear her say "I really just agreed to Netflix and chill" under her breath and he laughs to himself.

###

Chuck finishes dusting, the last of his cleaning, just as the doorbell rings. He opens the door with a smile, only to find the smile wasted on Morgan, Jeff, and Lester.

"Oh, hey, Morgan...and Jeff and Lester," Chuck greets and let's them in.

"That wasn't a very enthusiastic greeting, Chuck," Lester says.

"Well, I was expecting other company to be at the door," Chuck explains.

"Did you forget about Buy Morian's poker night?" Morgan asks.

Chuck looks between the three "men". "I wasn't aware this was still a thing since I don't work at the Buy More anymore."

Jeff pops open a beer. "Chuck, we're a family no matter what."

"Uh huh," Chuck pauses, "Wait, this is beside the point. The point is that no one notified me and I already have much better plans!"

The doorbell rings again.

Chuck hurriedly opens the door, only to be disappointed again.

"It'll be $25.42," the pizza delivery man mumbles.

Chuck hands over the cash and takes the boxes.

"Sweet, pizza!" Jeff and Lester shout.

"It's not for you guys. Please, just-" Chuck is cut off by the doorbell once more. "Stay put," he commands the buffoons.

"Sarah, hi!" Chuck chirps and pulls her in for a hug. "Beware of the strange men inside," he warns her quietly.

Sarah peeks around Chuck to see Morgan and two others watching their interaction intently.

"Sarah, this is Jeff and Lester. I used to work with them at the Buy More," Chuck says gesturing to them.

Lester takes Sarah's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, my fair lady."

Sarah slowly pulls her hand away from his grip. "Nice to meet you," she says hesitantly.

"Hi, I'm Jeff."

"Hello, Jeff."

"Okay. Great meeting, guys. Sarah, can I talk with you in the kitchen? Don't even think about eating the pizza, Jeff." Chuck backs into the kitchen and sends a glare at the three men-children.

Sarah glances into the living room and back to Chuck. "So, that was interesting. What happened to the promise of chill and quiet?"

Chuck rubs the back of his neck guiltily. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about this. These guys just showed up out of nowhere. I didn't try to sabotage our date."

"Date, huh?" Sarah queries.

Chuck stumbles over his words for several seconds. "Um, I mean I don't know what this is exactly."

Sarah shrugs. "Do we have to label anything? I'm not looking for anything serious. I should've mentioned that before, I suppose."

"No, no. You did nothing that pointed to that. It's just me. Wow, I just said it's me not you. Okay, you know what, how about we go somewhere else before I start talking your ear off?" Chuck sighs and runs a hand through his hair.

"We could go back to my place? Just bring the pizza and beer, though. I have nothing in my fridge," Sarah says and taps his chest lightly with her fingertips. "Okay, ready to go?"

Chuck clears his throat. "Yup, yes. Okay."

He hands Sarah the pack of beer and he grabs the pizza. "Bye, guys. Don't destroy the apartment, Ellie would be furious," he shouts and closes the door behind him.

#

They stand in silence on their way up to the fourth floor. The other person in the elevator gets off at the third floor.

"Hi," Chuck says cheekily.

"Hi," Sarah says back equally happy. They reach her door and she hands Chuck the beer so she can get the key out. She places her hand on the handle for balance only to find the door is already unlocked. "Chuck, wait here," she instructs and pulls a pocket knife from her purse.

"What?" Chuck squeaks.

"Someone's in there. Stay here." Sarah quietly inches open the door. She sees a figure searching through her cabinets in the dark kitchen. Sarah lunges forward to wrap an arm around the person's neck, but the attacker reacts first, twisting Sarah's arm behind her. Sarah elbows the assailant, breaking away from their hold. She quickly pins the intruder to the ground the knife to their neck.

Chuck runs in and turns the lights on.

"Carina?" Sarah asks in surprise.

"Walker, what a nice welcome," Carina retorts.

Sarah stands and helps Carina up. "What're you doing back here?"

Carina dusts herself off. "I may have gotten evicted from my place and now am staying at a room in this place."

"You're not staying with me," Sarah says.

"No, yeah, I know. I mean that I really am staying at an apartment here," Carina explains while pulling her hair up into a ponytail.

Sarah takes the beer from Chuck and places it in the fridge, but not before taking two out.

"So, you can afford a place here, but can't pay your rent in San Diego?"

"I just stopped paying. I didn't like the place all that much anyway," Carina says with a shrug.

"Wow," Chuck murmurs.

Carina's piercing glare flickers to Chuck. "And, who are you?"

"Carina, this is Chuck. He's a coworker." Sarah says and cracks open the beer and takes a large gulp.

"What just happened?" Chucks asks, still stunned at the fight.

"We both take defense classes and I practice different fighting styles in my free time."

"Oh," he says dumbfounded.

"So, Chucky, what do you do in your free time?" Carina questions. She steps closer and runs a hand along his arm.

"Um," Chuck stutters and looks to Sarah for help.

"Carina, stop making him uncomfortable," Sarah interjects.

Carina looks between Sarah and Chuck. "Make him uncomfortable, huh? I sense that you two were about to get real comfortable." Carina laughs and takes a beer. "Well, I'll get out of your hair then. Unless you're looking for a third?" At Chuck's choking noise and Sarah's sigh she continues. "No? Okay, another time. See ya." Carina leaves with a slam of the door.

"She seems fun," Chuck jokes.

Sarah runs a hand over her face. "She's a handful. Carina is who I was talking about before. The one from college and all. She's an energetic one."

"I could tell." Chuck takes a sip of his beer in the silence. "So, how about we start on that pizza?"

"Good idea. I'm starving."

#

A/N: Thanks for reading, follows, favorites, and comments!


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